The present invention generally relates to the art of electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a circuit board connector having an ejector.
Circuit board connectors are widely used in electronic devices utilizing circuit boards. Typically, such a connector is used for mounting a daughter circuit board to a primary circuit board. The connector includes an elongated insulative housing which forms a slot dimensioned to receive an edge of the daughter circuit board. The daughter circuit board may be, for example, a memory module, interface card, or some other auxiliary circuit card.
The housing includes a plurality of conductive terminals with contact portions located in the slot for contacting correspondingly located contacts on the daughter circuit board. The housing is mounted to the primary circuit board so that tail ends of the conductive terminals, which extend from a bottom of the housing, are held in electrical contact with respective electrical contacts on the primary circuit board.
Known connectors further include a pair of ejectors for manually ejecting the daughter board from the slot in the connector housing. Each ejector has a handle portion and an engaging portion. The ejector is pivotally mounted to the housing within a slot therein, such that when the ejector handle is moved, the ejector pivots to move the engaging portion of the ejector. The engaging portion thereby pushes an inserted daughter circuit board from the slot in the connector housing. By pivoting both of the end-mounted ejectors, the daughter circuit board is ejected from the slot.
To mount the connector to the primary circuit board, the connector typically includes a pair of fasteners mounted to the respective ends the housing, in the same vicinity of the housing as the ejectors at the end of the slot. Each of the fasteners has a U-shaped anchoring portion having two upwardly-extending barbed beams for affixing the fastener to the housing, and a mounting portion that projects downwardly from the housing for insertion through a respective mounting hole in the circuit board.
To prevent the fastener from obstructing or impeding the pivotal movement of the ejector, the fastener is configured to not touch the ejector. In particular, the conventional connector is configured so that a gap or clearance exists between the ejector and the upwardly extending beams of the U-shaped anchoring portion of the fastener. Also, in a conventional connector, the fastener is not aligned with the ejector. These features require the housing to have a substantial width, occupying substantial space. A connector design is desirable which is more compact.
Moreover, the pivot holes formed in the walls of the housing typically extend completely through the housing. This undesirably sacrifices the structural strength of the housing. Additionally, such pivot holes must be formed during manufacturing, thereby increasing costs.